Marketing agency tech stack: what you need
The tools a marketing agency actually needs, by team size, how many is too many, and how to consolidate tools and cut SaaS spend without losing anything.
Spodus team
Published 5 min read
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A marketing agency tech stack is the set of software the agency runs on: the tools that hold clients, projects, time, invoices and conversations, plus the trade tools used to deliver the work. Most agencies need fewer tools than they have. The right stack is the smallest set where each piece of data lives in one place.
What the stack has to cover
Every agency tech stack, whatever the size, has to do the same jobs. Sort your tools into these groups and the gaps and overlaps show themselves.
Client operations
- Clients, contacts and deals: who you work for, who you are pitching, what was agreed.
- Projects and tasks: what is being done, by whom, by when.
- Time: hours per person per client, and whether they are billable.
- Billing: quotes, invoices, payments received, what is overdue.
- Support: requests from retainer clients, tracked so none is lost.
Communication
- Email and calendar.
- Team chat.
- Video calls.
- A client-facing place to share work and collect approvals.
Files and knowledge
- File storage and sharing.
- Internal documentation: processes, templates, how-to notes.
- A password manager.
Trade tools
- Ads platforms and their reporting.
- Analytics.
- SEO and content tools.
- Design and video.
- Social scheduling.
- Email marketing platforms run for clients.
The trade tools change with the services you sell. The client operations tools should not; they are the same for a design studio and a paid media agency.
Agency tech stack by team size
Up to five people. Five to eight tools. One tool for clients, projects and invoices if you can find one that does all three well enough. Email, chat, files, a password manager, and your trade tools. A spreadsheet for time is fine at this size.
Around twenty people. Eight to twelve tools. This is where the spreadsheet for time stops working and where two people start keeping two client lists. Pick one system of record for clients and stick to it. Add a support queue if retainer clients send requests that get lost in email. Add a client portal if approvals are slow.
Around fifty people. Fifteen to twenty tools. The cost of disconnected data is now real money: a client in five places means five places to update when their contact changes, and hours in one tool that nobody matches to invoices in another. The client record, the projects, the time and the billing should share data, either in one product or through integrations that someone owns. Add resource planning and a proper HR record.
At every size, the count matters less than the overlap. Two tools that both hold the client list is the problem.
The too many tools problem
The too many tools problem is not the bill, although the bill is usually the first thing an owner notices. It is what the sprawl does to the work:
- The same client is in the CRM, the project tool, the time tool, the invoicing tool and a spreadsheet, spelled four ways.
- A task lives in one tool, its brief in another, the hours in a third, and the invoice in a fourth. To answer "is this client profitable" someone opens all four.
- New staff spend their first week collecting logins.
- Nobody knows the full list, so nobody can cancel anything.
- Every tool has its own notification, so people miss the ones that matter.
It happens gradually. Each team picks the tool it likes. Each tool is reasonable. The stack as a whole is not.
How to consolidate software tools
Consolidation is a project, and it goes better as a slow one.
- List everything. Every subscription, its monthly cost, who uses it, and what job it does. Include the ones paid on personal cards. This list is usually a surprise.
- Group by job. Use the groups above. Where one job has two tools, you have found an overlap.
- Pick the system of record for each piece of data. Clients live here. Tasks live here. Hours live here. Invoices live here. Write it down.
- Move one thing a month. Export the data, import it, run both tools in parallel for two weeks, then cancel the old one. One move a month keeps the team's patience.
- Prefer one tool for connected data. Clients, deals, projects, invoices and support requests are all about the same client, and they are far easier to run in one product than in five connected ones. Spodus is one such product; a small agency can run its client operations on it and keep only the trade tools beside it.
- Put one person in charge of the list. Any new subscription goes through them. That is the whole governance you need.
How to reduce SaaS spend in an agency
Reducing SaaS spend is mostly about seats, then about overlap.
- Remove dead seats. People who left, contractors from last year, and accounts nobody has opened in ninety days. On most agency stacks this is the largest single saving.
- Remove duplicate seats. If the project tool and the CRM both charge per person and both hold the client list, every person is paid for twice.
- Downgrade the tier. Many tools are on a tier for one feature that one person used once. Check what the tier actually adds.
- Go annual on what you will keep. Only for tools you are sure of; an annual contract on a tool you leave in March is not a saving.
- Charge the trade tools through. Ad platform fees, stock assets and software run only for one client belong on that client's invoice.
- Check again every quarter. Spend creeps back. A fifteen-minute quarterly look at the list keeps it flat.
Questions, answered
- How do you consolidate software tools?
- List every tool you pay for, who uses it, and what for. Group them by job: client records, projects, time, billing, support, chat, files, and the marketing tools you deliver work with. Where two tools do one job, keep the one more people use. Where one tool could do three jobs well enough, move the three into it. Do one move a month. Cancel the old tool only after the data is out.
- How does an agency reduce SaaS spend?
- Start with the seats, not the tools. Most agencies pay for people who left, people who never logged in, and duplicate seats across tools that overlap. Remove those first; on most stacks it is the largest single saving. Then merge overlapping tools, move to annual billing on the ones you will keep for a year, and put one person in charge of approving any new subscription.
- What is the too many tools problem?
- It is what happens when every team picks its own software. A client exists in five places with five different spellings. A task is in one tool, its brief in a second, the hours in a third, and the invoice in a fourth. Nobody has the whole picture, new staff take weeks to learn the logins, and nobody knows the total monthly bill.
- What tools does a 20 person agency need?
- Around eight to twelve, not thirty. One place for clients, deals and invoices. One for projects and tasks. One for time. One for team chat. One for email and calendar. One for files. Then the trade tools the work needs: ads, analytics, SEO, design, social scheduling. A support queue if you have retainer clients who raise requests. Everything else should justify itself.
- What software does a 50 person agency need?
- The same categories as a 20 person agency, with more weight on the connections between them. At fifty people the cost of a client living in several tools is real, so the client record, the projects, the time and the invoices should share data. Add resource planning, a proper HR record, and a password manager. Expect fifteen to twenty tools, and one person who owns the list.
- How many tools does an agency need?
- Fewer than it has. A small agency runs well on five to eight. A twenty person agency on eight to twelve. A fifty person agency on fifteen to twenty. The count matters less than the overlap: two tools that both hold the client list is the problem, not the number. Count the tools that hold the same data, and reduce that number to one.
